Measuring flour, whisking eggs, browning butter. When it comes to looking for fun activities to do with your little one, baking sure takes the cake! Not only is baking with kids fun, but you can count on teaching your child useful measuring skills as well.
Thumb through a recipe book or the internet for an easy and fun baking recipe both you and your child would like to try. Bring them shopping for the ingredients and dedicate some time on your next weekend to try one of these easy baking recipes for kids at home!
Baking with kids: Reel them in with colourful baking tools
1. Cookie Cutters
Encourage your kids to carve their favourite animals from the fondant or pastry dough with these colourful cookie cutters (available on pujidao.sg)! From cute animal series moulds to transportation moulds for your little ones obsessed with trucks, buses and trains, make baking with kids the fun activity it’s meant to be!
2. Mini Spatulas
Don’t let your little ones struggle with large spatulas! Hand them these nifty heat-resistant silicone grade spatulas (available on coolscenery.sg). They are non-stick and easy to use when your little one is folding and mixing batter in the bowl. And if you’re up for letting your kid try his or her hand at browning butter, these spatulas won’t heat up easily so they are safe to use!
3. Colourful Measuring Scoops
Get your kids to love math with these colourful measuring scoops (available on september.sg). Stackable and lightweight, these baking tools come with large handles for your little pastry chefs to measure the amount of flour required for the recipe! Did we mention they have useful scales on their handles — in cups and millilitres!
4. Kids’ Aprons
Who says you can’t dress up, even if you’re just spending some time at home in the kitchen? These cute aprons are adorable outfits! This kids’ apron and sleeve set (available on haoyang.sg) designs include Doremon and Hello Kitty. Apart from using them for baking, you can get your kids to tie these when they’re busy with arts and craft activities!
5. Mini Rolling Pins
Baking with kids involves them participating in as many steps of the recipe as possible. Hand them these mini rolling pins (available on Hellow) and guide them with the correct technique of rolling the dough. Its small enough for the young ones to handle while it’s non-stick silicone surface means cleaning up wouldn’t be a nightmare!
That’s not all, check out these silicone baking whisks, bright cupcake liners and a sturdy 2-step stool so your little ones can reach the kitchen countertop and feel involved in the process!
Easy baking recipes to get started with
1. Animal-Shaped Lemony Biscuits
Kids will adore this easy animal-shaped lemony biscuits recipe! If you’ve been wanting to expose your kids to lemon’s tangy flavour, this is one easy way to do it. They get to put their creativity to play by decorating their animal biscuits in whichever style and shape they like!
How to make:
1) Mix butter and sugar in a mixing bowl — this is for the biscuit dough
2) Crack an egg into the mixture, add half a teaspoon of baking powder and mix well
3) Squeeze the zest of 1 lemon into the mixture
4) Add 225g of baking flour and stir
5) Guide your kid in shaping the dough into their desired animal shape
6) Add rice sprinkles or cranberries for decoration
7) Pop them into the fridge to set them
8) Place them on a baking tray and bake at 180 degree-Celsius, for 12-14 minutes until they’re golden brown
9) Dig in!
2. Vanilla Cupcakes
Vanilla cupcakes serve as a great starting point for other cupcakes. You can easily transform them into any other cupcake later on with coloured icing and other cake decor.
How to make:
1) Pour castor sugar and butter into the mixer
2) Blend for about 30 – 60 seconds till its light and fluffy
3) Sift in the self-raising flour and add four beaten eggs into the mix
4) Mix it again on low speed for 30 – 60 seconds
5) Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract and mix it for 30 seconds, at low speed
6) Scoop two spoonfuls of the mix into each cupcake liner
7) Bake the cupcakes at about 175-degree celsius for about 17 minutes
8) Once baked, let them cool on a cooling rack
8) Your kids can choose to add on any type of frosting or sprinkles they like
3. Mug Brownie
Do you already make it a point to bake with your kids? Let them take over the reins with this easy mug brownie recipe!
How to make:
1) Add the hot chocolate mix and flour into a microwaveable mug
2) Stir the mixture using a fork
3) Add in canola oil, water, vanilla extract and a handful of chocolate chips
4) Stir the mixture till it’s of gooey consistency and microwave it for about 30 minutes
5) Carefully remove the hot mug from the microwave and dig in! (You can add a scoop of ice-cream to cool it down too)
4. Coconut Biscuits with Smarties
Easy baking recipes for kids don’t always have to involve sugared everything! Coconut biscuits with smarties strike a perfect balance between healthy and sweet recipes and make for great additions to your child’s lunch box meals.
How to make:
1) Stir in desiccated coconut, sugar and sift some flour into a mixing bowl
2) Mix well
3) Scoop a tablespoon of the mixture into your hands and roll it into a ball
4) Place it each ball onto a baking tray with some space between each
5) [Optional]: Press in one Smartie (or any other chocolate topping) into the middle of the ball
6) Bake them for 12 minutes at 180-degree Celsius
7) Place on a cooling rack and they’ll be ready to serve in no time!
5. Rainbow Cupcakes
What’s the point of baking with kids without using tons of colour? Make some rainbow cupcakes with your little chefs. Bedazzle your kid with the colours in this cake and watch how they come together to form a beautiful, even layers.
How to make:
1) Prepare a white cake mix
2) Divide the mix evenly into six bowls
3) Pour a dye colour into each bowl
4) Distribute each colour into the cupcake liner — layering each colour on top of one another so the colour below is no longer visible
5) Bake the cupcakes at about 176-degree Celsius for about 30 to 40 minutes
6) Perform the toothpick test and if it comes out clean, you can take the cupcakes out
7) [Optional]: Add some whipped cream before serving
When baking with kids, appreciate the process
Baking can get messy so there are bound to be some accidents in the kitchen. Teach your kids that mistakes are normal in the process and find a solution together! Most importantly, let them know their help was important — praise them when they complete a task, no matter how simple!
This article was produced by Shopee Singapore.
